GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands; Monday, May 25th, 2009 - "Today we gather here to honor the memory of the only named National Hero in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Late Hon James Alexander George Smith McCartney who is also the first Chief Minister of these Islands.
I believe this occasion calls us to do several things:
Firstly it is a time to reflect – Generally on our past and the events that lead us here to this place today; Secondly, to celebrate our national hero by reflecting on his life and his contributions and I believe, the hidden and downplayed cause ought to be for us to reflect on our own lives and to assess what we are doing with the blessing of belongership to the Turks and Caicos Islands. As we give, in essence and account of JAGS’ time on earth, we ought to be encouraged to review ours, do more and to be more.
I am honoured and delighted to be given this assignment today and I am here to give the best that I can. I am a firm believer that people don’t pick other people, time does and I do not take my place here before you lightly – physically here or at this time and place in our nation’s history. So as time has been so kind to me, I will seek to the same.
Over the next few minutes, I wish to address several areas as we reflect, celebrate, assess and challenge ourselves.
Unfortunately JAGS’ name is too often tossed about with very little information shared about him on too many occasions. But as we sit here to remember and honor him for his contribution, I will solidify in our minds why he is a National Hero by looking at some criteria that can be used in naming National Heroes and I will seek to challenge us from accounts and events in JAGS’ life.
WHAT IS A NATIONAL HERO?
In every country, there will always be controversy surrounding what makes a person a national hero or who should be a national hero? Today I wish to offer some guidelines that I discovered whilst researching.
Under much criticism and scrutiny, some countries have dared to define for their purposes who is a national hero and in my research the criteria set out and adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on June 3, 1993 in Manila resonated more true than any other.
CRITERIA FOR NATIONAL HEROES
The Committee listed three main points with three additional criteria:
Firstly, it was said, “…Heroes are those who have a concept of nation and thereafter aspire and struggle for the nation’s freedom…”
What is concept? Idea, notion, model or belief. More important than an idea or notion, JAGS had a vision for these Islands. He saw the end result of his fight and he saw it as a path that needed to be taken. He saw the Turks and Caicos Islands that he wanted to live in.
Having not attained the status of Independence, TCI cannot be correctly referred to as a nation. However, today we will use this term as alternative definitions of nation is also accepted to be a single body of people who share a common history, culture, language or ethnic origin, who typically inhabit a particular country or territory. Therefore in this context we will refer to our nation in its cultural sense.
A single body: not two but a single body. In this concept or vision of TCI, JAGS saw one people…not Caicos Islanders or Turks Islanders. He was known to promote unity between the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands whose history and land mass could only be differed by trivial events and practices. In fact, very early in his Administration, he sank a buoy that was placed to mark the divide between the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands signaling his vision and his Government’s intention to unite the Turks and Caicos Islands in every way.
In fact, though leading a Grand Turk birthed Party and being a native of Grand Turk, history will reveal that when given a package from Britain for development of the Islands, he invested the monies in Providenciales and today he is credited for the Club Med investment which opened Provo’s doors to larger and ongoing investment. In his quest for nationhood and to bring one people together he did something that was bigger than his own constituency, bigger than his desire to keep his constituency and island happy, bigger than himself, he did something for the Turks and Caicos Islands. He showed us as a people what it meant to be Leader of a united Turks and Caicos Islands. This ought alone to have shown that he was a national figure.
Many Turks and Caicos Islanders believed that our own struggle for freedom was begun by JAGS who seriously believed in an Independent Turks and Caicos. His fight for advanced roles for TC Islanders in the governing of their affairs was a step towards greater autonomy and eventual full control of our affairs.
Secondly, heroes are those who define and contribute to a system or life of freedom and order for a nation. Freedom without order will only lead to anarchy. Therefore, heroes are those who make the nation’s constitution and laws. To the latter, constitutions are only the beginning; for it is the people living under the constitution that truly constitute a nation.
JAGS fight was one against the status quo, he believed that Turks and Caicos Islanders were more than capable of managing their own affairs and as such he believed that political maturity evidenced through political parties was a path to take. As a scholar of history, too often the Junkanoo Club incident is down played as a catalyst towards change. Whilst there are those who worked in the official quarters, JAGS was forming a revolution outside. He rocked the fiber of the status quo bringing Grand Turk, the nation’s capital to a standstill for days during the Junkanoo Club incident getting the attention of the Mother Land in a way never before dared. Eventually, the status quo was upset and the Constitution that he together with others fought for was a real step towards self-sufficiency shuffling in the new Ministerial form of Government and giving Turks and Caicos Islanders the right to govern its own affairs.
Thirdly, “…Heroes are those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a nation as defined by Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz…”
Those who walked and worked with JAGS and even beyond that tangible relationship, those who are scholars of his life and hearers of his dream have became some of the greatest minds in these Islands. The pride of those whom he left behind and whose lives he touched is largely the basis of the little semblance of real national pride that many of us have. Before I knew anything more of TCI history I was a proud Turks and Caicos Islander because of JAGS. Most people across political lines often signal him out …he was bigger than a PDM, he was a Turks and Caicos Islander.
JAGS leadership style though to some inappropriate or to some criminal, was visionary and showed the basis of servant leadership. He led the smallest or greatest fight and he did not govern in ignorance as modern leaders chose to do. He remained humble and lived amongst those he led and he knew that the youth had a great part to play.
History in most countries will reveal that youth have formed the basis of some of the greatest upsets. In keeping with great world movements, his movement started as a Youth Organisation where young people were encouraged to meet to discuss social issues and to learn to read. He chose to enlighten his followers – to truly empower them. He could have chosen to tease and tantalize their emotions but he allowed them to reason for themselves from the facts – he saw an enlightened following or electorate as much more important to nation building than his own personal control. This type of enlightened leadership sees today many who may not have attained higher levels of education formally rank among the great-educated minds as valuable contributors and great thinkers when on the topic of pertinent national issues.
Additional Criteria for Heroes
The Committee felt as I do that there were additional criteria that can also be noted:
1. A hero is part of the people’s expression. But the process of a people’s internalization of a hero’s life and works takes time, with the youth forming a part of the internalization.
JAGS was definitely, a part of the people’s expressions. He was a voice for the people. JAGS said and did what most of us wanted to say but couldn’t or wouldn’t. His exposure to life in the 1960s in the Bahamas and in Chicago opened his eyes and he did not shy away from discomfort or danger. He learned the know how from the greatest leaders of this era – He quickly associated with Sir Lynden Pindling of the Bahamas and the Black Power Movement in Chicago. He was then not only able to do what people were afraid to do but what many didn’t know how to do.
Many were not happy with the state of affairs in the TCI but sat and complain without doing anything. JAGS responded to the call and became a voice for all.
2. A hero thinks of the future, especially the future generations.
JAGS saw his struggle and fight as a battle to be fought for the better future of these Islands. In one of his Speeches made in May 1979, he said that we must unify and educate ourselves lest while we fight amongst ourselves, foreign influences proceed to take over our land. He was a futuristic thinker and he always planned with the envisioned end in mind – a united nation, in the true political sense.
And thirdly,
3. The choice of a hero involves not only the recounting of an episode or events in history, but of the entire process that made this particular person a hero. (As defined by Dr. Alfredo Lagmay)
JAGS was especially known for the Junkanoo Club incident but there was so much more about this man that is not told. His life though simple and nothing out of the ordinary until later in life showed heroic tendencies from early.
Born with a hole in his heart, he was sent off to another country where he could receive better medical care. He could have stayed away from stress and lived a full life as the son of a lawyer in a day when lawyers were a privileged few.
He had a fight in him and wanted to do more than the normal, I am told that he even tried to enlist in the army/ naval forces in the USA but was denied because of his health condition.
In his writings “ A Black Boy in the Bahamas, a book he wrote that gave an account of his life while living there, he became involved in the struggle there. His involvement saw him play an integral part in the first and largest Hotel Workers Strike. But he was not complete because he felt that he ought to take this fight to his own country.
JAGS came home and ran for election but loss his bid for election in 1972. He could have given up and walked away but his quest was not a quest for power but for change, which was bigger than him and the people, he was fighting for.
He overcame hurdle after hurdle, failure after failure, rejection after rejection with one of his greatest challenge being the criticism and attitude of sectors of society who did not agree with his approach and who very often did not catch the vision for the better Turks and Caicos Islands.
Yet, JAGS continued to represent those who had no voice and was a major part of the fight against the injustices in particular of the foreign police towards youth. Young men were at times arrested and had no one to represent them. History recounts that JAGS and his colleagues would be seen driving a truck called “Mother Africa” to the Constabulary or Police Station where he would represent them. A mother whose child had passed away while in her was refused an operation that could save her life. JAGS and his colleagues were there and that mother is alive today. He represented persons outside of Grand Turk as well and my mind goes to a lady in South Caicos who was about to lose her business to a “white man” for a few dollars and JAGS and his colleagues were there and helped her. These people weren’t always his followers despite their thoughts of feelings towards him, he helped where he could. He organized strikes as he taught people of their rights. He led a Nurses Strike for better working conditions and pay. He also led a Demonstration on the grounds of Waterloo. He represented all.
JAGS was a true leader for the times. His entire life was one of a hero and I am sure he was not working for that. He was a man that rose to the call and the challenges of the day driven by love for country and his fellowman. JAGS believed in the people and these Islands.
NATIONAL PRIDE
A Call To More Responsible Citizenship
We can be proud of JAGS as the father of a new TCI, but today he calls from beyond his grave for more soldiers to enlist in the fight and the birth of more sons and daughters. Today we are not independent and we are perhaps no closer today than we were 10 years ago but we don’t need to wait for Independence to be proud. We are still a people that can be proud of who we are and what we have.
JAGS HAD NATIONAL PRIDE AND HE LOVED AND WAS DEVOTED TO HIS COUNTRY
We are facing some new and not so new frontiers in these Islands and some may deem the years to come as embarrassing and shameful but I say we can still be proud Turks and Caicos Islanders. Though this time shakes the very foundation of our country, this foundation has not been destroyed and neither has the resilience of us as a people.
My grandmother said: “What don’t kill you, will make you stronger.” We must find what makes us Turks and Caicls Islanders and celebrate it. The impending suspension of our country’s Constitution alone causes us to not want to celebrate. But I say to you, the success of this period would not be if we were able to correct flawed systems or fix a troubled economy, the success would be measured in my book by whether we find ourselves or not - whether we believe enough in our country to find ourselves individually and collectively as a people outside of PDM and PNP or TCUP, NDA or UDP.
What did JAGS have to be proud of? I am not sure I know the answer; but what I do know is we have way more today to be proud of and to fight for including his life.
Any nation that does not look to the future is a lost nation. We must move ahead on education and culture. This means Mr Premier and/or His Excellency, the Culture Department cannot be given pittance any longer. This vital Department must be given its much-needed resources to educate, inculcate and cultivate a sense of national and civic pride.
No Mr. Bowen didn’t ask me to say this, but many would remember that it was a Private Motion brought to the House by me in 2000 that established this Department and I know what it showed be doing and the limited resources it has to do its job even more impactful and effectively.
SYMBOLS
Just as JAGS is for many a symbol of National Pride; there are other symbols that must be put in place. Let me say at this official function the National Anthem whether it is “God save our Gracious Queen” or “Turks and Caicos, Land I Love” can never be replaced on a national agenda. This teaches pride in what you have and when we have our very own, we would have to only transfer instead of having to teach a people all over again after we would have intentionally or not, taught them disrespect for authority and the symbols that represent it. It starts small.
THERE MUST BE A CALL FOR UNITY AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS
Politics can and will kill us if we let it. We are being called to move beyond petty politics and honor our people regardless of who they are whether they are from East Harbour, the suburbs of Provo or the Garden. We must not look down on anyone nor judge them as nobodies as it is often the case that the stone that the builders reject will emerge the corner stone.
JAGS gave service above self and great expense to his family with the loss of his very life.
WE MUST FIND OUR IDENTITY AS A PEOPLE AND COUNTRY AND INSTILL SOUND NATIONAL PRIDE
Let us ditch the false sense of pride that is often in the US dollar or standard of living; all dependent on foreign influence or external factors.
A country without an identity is a country destined for shipwreck. Let us record, and revive our history. Let us seek to incorporate all the talents, intelligence and resilience of our people. We have to use all of our people and we can start this crusade by giving the Culture Department what it needs to ensure that these two years a people are birthed that will put country above self. People that will respect and work within laws and systems, people who will cherish their heritage and devote and commit themselves towards nationhood.
OUR CHILDREN ARE VITAL IN THIS CRUSADE
Our children must be taught about their heritage so that they can have pride and be the most vociferous and ardent defenders of our culture and heritage.
Quality education to the children, instilling moral ethics in them, instilling a sense of national pride in them through apprising them about our rich culture, heritage and about the lives of those who have and are making contributions.
CIVIC PRIDE
And yes there is a call for national pride but I join with David Miliband of the UK who said: “…national pride though important may not be enough. Civic pride is what is even more important.”
An accepted formula to achieve civic pride is Identity (through National Pride) + Trust + Community + Justice = Civic Pride.
JAGS fought to give us an identity, people trusted him because they knew his actions were genuine and not about him, he rallied the community support and he fought for justice…that is perhaps why one of the most proud communities in these Turks and Caicos Islands remains North Backsalina or Cashere Garden.
THE ROLE OF THE REGULAR CITIZEN
JAGS mobilized regular citizens and often used those whom society would look down on and who were deemed troublemakers and having nothing to offer.
It is often said: “…Participation does make better citizens. I believe it, but I can't prove it. And neither can anyone else. The kinds of subtle changes in character that come about, slowly, from active, powerful participation in democratic decisions cannot easily be measured with the blunt instruments of social science. Those who have actively participated in democratic governance, however, often feel that the experience has changed them. And those who observe the active participation of others often believe that they see its long run effects on the citizens' character...”
We must encourage people “…to commit to social justice, [the upholding of the laws and systems of the land], human dignity, equality, civic participation and peace-building….[as} the way to create good citizens…”, (Ekklesia).
CONCLUSION - A CALL FOR NATIONAL SERVICE
I leave now by calling on us all to a life of service.
Martin Luther King said: “Service can help make us all better citizens. Not only does service help the people you are serving, but it also helps yourself. Once you know how good it feels to serve someone, you'll always want to help out others. By helping out your neighbor you have also helped your country, even if you've only helped one person…By being citizens of …, we all should give something back… By giving a service to your neighbor, family, friend, or even a stranger, you have done a good deed to both them and [our country]. You may not be recognized for that act, but recognition is not all that matters. If you're serving because you want to be recognized, then you might as well forget about service making you a better citizen. You have to only worry about helping other people, not yourself. Only then will you have become a better citizen.”
We are at a ripe place and time in the Turks and Caicos Islands. All is far from lost and we have so much to be proud of and so much more to do. On this quest to nationhood, opportunity provides us all with a chance to make a significant contribution.
Stop, and ask yourself what are you doing for your country? Are you giving your best or are you taking up space? Your contribution may not be national but it can impact our nation’s development significantly. You ought not to allow your upbringing, your family, people’s negative attitudes to deter you. We learn from JAGS’ life that even physical ailments, birth defects can only be setbacks if we allow them to. We cannot be discouraged by the hugeness of the fight ahead but must determine within ourselves that “…the journey of a lifetime begins with one single step.”
A small boy was walking along a beach at low tide, where countless thousands of small sea creatures, having been washed up, were stranded and doomed to perish. A man watched as the boy picked up individual creatures and took them back into the water.
"I can see you're being very kind," said the watching man, "But there must be a million of them; it can't possibly make any difference."
Returning from the water's edge, the boy said, "It will for that one."
JAGS has played his part. The spotlight is on us now. We each have a role to play and we ought to take it seriously and do something great for our community and our country. There are other JAGS among us and I encourage you as the Bible records in Habakkuk Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets that the one who reads it may run. An enlightened nation is the greatest testament of a servant leader. And I guarantee you that that vision as JAGS’ does will speak from the grave.
We are a great little country and we are and can be so much more if we just apply ourselves and take our civic responsibilities seriously and if we walked together as one people as the country’s Motto says – One Nation, One People, One Destiny.
May God bless these Beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands and may God bless us all.
Thank you.”
Mrs. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, Guest Speaker
National Heroes Day Celebration
JAGS McCartney Mausoleum
Grand Turk
END
